


paint and flowers in your hair

by sunandroses



Series: RotBTD Shipping Fics [1]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Attempt at Humor, Awkward Crush, Awkwardness, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Crush at First Sight, Dorks in Love, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Meet-Cute, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, no beta no similes we die, they are so awkward send help, this is a mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:28:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24673099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunandroses/pseuds/sunandroses
Summary: Hiccup didn't expect his cat to find a girl wandering through the back door of the shop he worked at at 11 AM on a Tuesday, but, all things considered, it worked out.
Relationships: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III/Rapunzel (Disney)
Series: RotBTD Shipping Fics [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1783951
Comments: 5
Kudos: 8





	paint and flowers in your hair

**Author's Note:**

> This felt like it needed a cliché title, so that's what it got. Also, I spent an embarrassingly long time fiddling with this and I am in no way mentally prepared to go back through and check for grammatical errors, have fun.
> 
> Meet-cute prompt originally taken from a tumblr post.
> 
> Songs: [An Awkward Duet - Dodie & Jon Cozart](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU5vKbyc3c8), [Can't Sleep Love - Pentatonix](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oelxUUgJLTc)

One of the perks of working at a coffee shop that also served as a cat café was that Hiccup could bring his cat to work. Between his college classes, an internship, a part time job, and the countless other responsibilities that came with being a newly legal adult, it was a wonder how he would’ve found any time to spend with his cat had it not been for the blessings of the senior manager of the shop and his best friend Astrid.

On that day, however, his cat did not share that sentiment.

The moment Hiccup opened the carrier, Toothless had slithered his furry hide under the furniture and refused to come out. When Astrid’s blue-grey cat Stormfly (whom he was also cat sitting) had poked her nose under to ask him to play, he’d hissed at her.

She didn’t deserve that, and when Toothless was feeling better he might try to approach her himself. But, well … with one thing and another Toothless had really been going through it that week. And this time only half of it had been his own fault.

So Hiccup left him alone. Instead, he greeted the other cats and set up the shop. He served the customers that came by and passed along some idle chatter. Nothing unusual from the other Tuesdays that he’d worked there.

By the time mid-morning rolled around, Hiccup was left with an empty shop, cleaning to the sounds of Fleetwood Mac and his cat shredding up dust bunnies.

From under a nearby table, there came a particularly loud thump. Hiccup sighed. Bending down, he brushed aside the tablecloth and peered underneath. In the semi-darkness he could just make out the black, shaggy fur that formed a lumpy oval on the floor. Said oval twisted around and – yep, Toothless still had his cone on, which meant that Hiccup’s adjustments to it were working and his cat hadn’t managed to get it off for the 5th time in 3 days.

“Bud… I know you’re upset but you can’t sulk forever.”

The only thing he got for his troubles was a green-eyed glare. As if all of this was somehow his fault.

But like the sappy cat-owner he was, Hiccup made the required sympathetic clucking noises anyways. He didn’t try reaching out to Toothless; that would only end in failure. Yes, by now the grouchy act had gotten a bit old and his cat was probably being more dramatic than he needed to be. But Toothless was barely a year old at that point, basically a teenager, and what was the point of teenagerhood if not to let out some melodrama every once in a while? Hiccup couldn’t really blame him. If his father were anyone to ask, then Hiccup might also have been like that back when he was younger.

His friends would probably call him a pushover, saying he spoiled his cat too much, but Hiccup couldn’t help that either. Initially Hiccup hadn’t even considered getting a pet until Toothless barged into his life. They hadn’t gotten along well in the beginning, and the worst of it had cost Toothless his tail and Hiccup a foot, but then there came a time after where the two had _had_ to rely on each other whether they wanted to or not. That kind of thing tended to leave lasting impressions.

Where Hiccup often found himself being more patient with Toothless, Toothless in turn trusted him more than he did others and usually only ever allowed Hiccup to come close.

Nevertheless, a grumpy cat was a grumpy cat. Even if Toothless still blamed Hiccup for forcing the cone onto him when his kitty brain didn’t see the purpose of it, that didn’t mean he had to spend the rest of the day making himself miserable. Something had to be done.

Petting and attention wouldn’t work, toys wouldn’t either. Clearly the next best option was to bribe him with food. And if he remembered correctly, Hiccup was pretty sure he had an almost empty bag of cat treats stowed somewhere in his bag.

With that in mind, Hiccup finished up the mopping. His sneakers squeaked as he turned on his heel and went behind the counter. The door to the back opened easily.

From behind there came a frantic skittering on the floor. A large, furry mass shoved past his legs and Hiccup almost went tripping over himself. He looked up in time to see his cat dash down the corridor, the sound of tiny bells tinkling in its wake.

“Oh, you rascal.” Hiccup let the mop fall and ran after.

The corridor was supposed to be short, with two turns and a door in the back. But there was no Toothless in sight. Hiccup was just about to round the next when he heard someone say, “ _Hello,_ there!” in that very special I Am Talking To A Surprise Cat voice. An unfamiliar, distinctly _feminine_ sounding someone. But by then Hiccup’s momentum had carried him past the bend and he bore witness to the strangest sight he’d seen since coming to town.

What stood before him was what he could only describe as a flower shop made into a human being – and by flower shop, what he really meant was a small-scale, family owned, all-funds-donated-to-charity, good vibes and hippy wisdom kind of flower shop. Everything about the young girl – around his age? Maybe? – was flower themed, from the tie-dye flower t-shirt under flower print overalls to the faded white shoes covered in painted flowers. Draped on her neck were necklaces in different colours and sizes, some of which went down as far as her navel, and her arms were covered wrist to elbow in charm bracelets, friendship bracelets, bead bracelets, colourful string, and every manner of other such thing.

From her ears there dangled huge, blue daisy earrings. A pair of sparkly, neon sunglasses poked out of a head near bristling with flowers, despite the fact that the girl’s badly dyed brown-blonde hair fell just below chin length. The flowers twitched and jerked as she moved her head this way and that, cooing to the cat at her feet.

Before Hiccup could find any words, Flower Girl looked up. He didn’t know whether to be surprised or not that even her eyes were a grassy green. Said eyes widened when they saw him.

“I … I swear, I’m not crazy. Or homeless. Or here to sell you something.”

Hiccup watched as a heavy blush bloomed across her face. It started at her nose, making the few freckles scattered across it darken, and spread to her cheeks. From there it travelled to her hairline and ears until everything above her shirt glowed a vivid pink.

It took him a second to register that she’d said something.

“Oh. That’s, that’s nice.” _Smooth, Hiccup._ “Nice … earrings, I mean. Really nice. They’re cool. Where’d you get them?” _Wow_ this just keeps getting better and better. In his head he heard the voice of Astrid cackling her head off.

Hiccup was pretty sure Flower Girl wasn’t the only one blushing anymore.

To her credit, she went along with it. “I, well, thank you. I made them … last month? I think? I made these other things too.” She waved a hand over her headpiece-necklace-bracelet ensemble. “They’re for this event, at the library. Because it’s May and May means flower season and Mother’s Day, sooo … flowers. And, like, everyone liked it! I think half of these were made by the kids who’ve been coming in, and they are all _so talented._ I love them! See, see – see this.” She pointed to her bracelets. “This one’s from a little boy who really likes purple flowers. This one’s from a girl – no, a pair of twins, I think? They both wanted to give me friendship bracelets. Oh! And this one’s actually from one of the mothers. Isn’t it pretty? She even made the flowers!” From her bracelet-made wrist guard, she pulled out a dainty, braided thing of bells and flowers and plastic charms.

Hiccup leaned in for a better look. “Oooh, very nice. Speaking of flowers –” his eyes inevitably wandered to her hair “– why is it that my allergies aren’t acting up?”

“Your allergies?”

“My spring allergies. They usually start up whenever there’s lots of pollen around. Since mid-April I can’t go outside without getting hives. I try cycling to college and next thing I know I’m rolling in looking like a brunette lobster.”

Flower Girl giggled. An actual cute, bunny giggle, like little kids did when they said hello to the cats. “Aha- no, these aren’t real. I bought them.” She plucked a shiny, orange flower off of her head and gave it a jiggle. It waved jauntily back at him. “I got ‘em at the dollar store.”

“Classy.”

“Thank you, thank you.” She bobbed the tiniest of curtsies, and it just went to show that maybe Hiccup wasn’t the biggest dork on the planet. That, or this girl had caught some of his inherent dorkish-ness and now he had proof that it was contagious.

“Well, this has been fun and all, but I must tell you … I have a confession.” And because he’s Doctor Dorkface in the flesh, he mimed clearing his throat. “Ehem. It has come to my attention that for the past minute I’ve been mentally calling you Flower Girl.”

She let out a surprised laugh, her hands clapping over her mouth and ears going even pinker. “Oh, oh dear, I’m so sorry! I mean, I should’ve – … um, I’m Rapunzel. Rapunzel Corona, but my friends call me Stella.”

“Wait – hang on. How, how did we go from – Rapunzel? Rapunzel, was it? How did we go from _that_ to Stella?”

She bit her lip, hands still hovering near her face. “Well, see, you have Rapunzel, right? So it’s Rapunzel. Then Zel. Zella … Stella. And apparently all the people at my work and the kids who go there tell me that I’m famous for my astronomy facts so … Stella. Like stars.” She did a little “razzle-dazzle” at the end, like a shy star burst.

“Well then, Rapunzel “Stella” Corona, my name is Howard Haddock but all my friends call me Hiccup, which is mainly due to the Hiccup Incident that happened a few years back.”

Unlike everyone else who heard the nickname Stella did not immediately laugh. Her mouth crinkled up, but otherwise she kept it in. “Oh no, do I want to know?”

“Nope. Nuh-uh. That story’s off limits. The only people who get to hear it are the ones who’ve earned the best friend privileges.”

“Okay, okay. That makes sense. Um, right, I think,” Stella shook her head, still smiling, “I think this conversation went a little sideways. Right, introductions. Hi, I’m Rapunzel but you can call me Stella. I work at the library on Montgomery Street. I was trying to find a coffee shop just now and I’m currently a little bit lost.”

She stuck out her hand and Hiccup took it. “Hi, I’m Howard but you can call me Hiccup. I work at this establishment, which is a coffee shop-slash-cat café, and if you’re fine with that then I’d say you’re in luck.”

“Wait. Really? A _cat_ café? Oh my goodness, that’s so cool! That’s _adorable!”_ She clapped her hands together, her bracelets clinking together. “Come to think of it, that’s a fantastic idea. I mean, coffee _and_ cats? Who wouldn’t like that? Unless the person is allergic to cats – I wonder why I’ve never thought of it? Oh, oh, wait- does that explain him?”

“Explain who-” Hiccup glanced where she was pointing.

At her feet there sat Toothless. The fact that he was still sitting where the two had basically forgotten about him wasn’t what made Hiccup stare. It was that Toothless was not only sitting in one place but also that his tail was wagging, his ears were perked, and he was looking up at Stella with the biggest, _roundest_ eyes Hiccup had ever seen on him. It was like Stella was the embodiment of Holy Feline Wisdom and Toothless her newest devotee.

“… what the …” Was his cat alright? Was he really seeing this? Was he hallucinating? “… who are you?”

“Who are you?” Stella asked.

“No, no. Not that. That’s Toothless, and he’s definitely my cat.”

“He’s really cute.”

“No. No he is not.” Hiccup shook his head, pointing at the transformed cat. “Toothless is absolutely _not_ cute. He is grumpy and fussy and he thinks humans are overrated.”

“Well … maybe it’s the jewellery? Maybe he likes the sparkles? What? Do you like the sparkles? Are they pretty?” She said to Toothless. One of her bracelets had caught on a run in her tights and she detached it. She lifted her arms up and shook them out, making all the bracelets go jingle-jangle like keychains in a box.

Toothless’ eyes went even more sparkly. She skipped around him and started walking backwards down the hall, and he trotted after. Hiccup went ahead of them, picking up the fallen mop on the way, and held the door open for her as she walked backwards through it.

The moment she looked up, Stella unleashed a gasp and a squeal that sent her running to the middle of the café, to the cat tower where a few cats were poking their head out. She fluttered around and babbled praises to them, and when Toothless butted her legs she _picked him up_ and let him sniff the tower. The grin plastered on her face was like a kid in candy land.

Throughout it all she kept up a steady stream of chatter. “This is so cool! Look at you – aren’t you all the cutest things? You’ve got such a wonderful home! It’s all so colourful and warm and lovely, I’m sure you have lots of fun here. Do you know what this reminds me of? The part of the library, where we have a kids corner, and I’m in charge of the decorations. And this year I helped decorate it and now there’s flower things over the library, it looks fantastic. So much colour and cut-outs and paper maché and it’s all so pretty! I wish it could be like that all the time. I’d show you pictures of it but my phone’s out of battery and I know Merida told me to be careful about it but I really had to use it earlier for a flower emergency, and then something else came up after that and it’s been a busy morning. Oh, I haven’t mentioned Merida yet, have I? I think you’d like her. She’s my friend and she’s really cool. And that reminds me, do you know what else Merida told me? She said …”

Hiccup watched in mute wonder as she talked her way through what felt like six different topics at once, easily getting distracted by each, even cutting herself off mid-sentence at times. At some point he noticed himself zoning out. It made him wonder what she’d be like if she were ever hopped up on caffein. Or she’d already been and he just hadn’t noticed until then.

Half of what she said was kitty cooing, while the other half was filled with her friends and co-workers. From the way she spoke of them she cared about them deeply. It was … sweet, endearing even, in its own way.

Somewhere in her chatter she managed to remember what she’d come for and went to give her orders to Hiccup at the register. Most of it was pastries, which she’d written down on the back of a crumpled receipt she dug out of her pocket, and which she had planned to bring to her co-workers to surprise them with. By the time he’d rounded them up they made a small mountain of boxes on the counter. Hiccup wondered whether he’d have to dig up a huge shopping bag or if she’d planned something.

She had indeed. It turned out to be a cloth bag the size of a t-shirt that she unfolded out of another one of her pockets. She waved it out triumphantly. “I might not have come prepared for getting lost, but I did come prepared for this!”

“I can see that.” Hiccup loaded the goods in. Toothless hopped up onto the counter and meowed to Stella, which she took as a request for ear scratches.

Between girl and cat, Hiccup didn’t know who was sadder when he finally handed over the bag of pastries. “Thank you for shopping with us. I hope you’ll think of stopping by again.”

“I definitely will. I’ll tell my friends all about this and bring them here too.”

“I look forward to it.” He walked with her to the door. “I think Toothless does too. He’s grown really attached to you.”

“I’ve gotten attached to him, too. He’s so sweet.”

Hiccup shrugged, because yeah Toothless was being sweet. For her. At that moment he was hiding behind Hiccup’s ankles, craning around them to look at her with big, sad eyes. She grinned down at him from around her bulging bag.

“Well … don’t make it too far into the future, then. We both want to hear how the library thing of yours goes.” _And I want to talk to you again._

“Oh, that reminds me-” She switched the bag to one hand, and near capsized herself before Hiccup reached out to balance her. With her other hand, she dug something out of her pocket. “This – here – this is a flyer. Come by whenever you can. I’d love to see you.”

The way she said it made it sound like she really meant her words. It brought Hiccup’s blush rushing back to his face to hear her say that, his heart stuttering even as he took the flyer. And with the way she was looking at him, well … it drew him in. It made him hope that he wore the same look on his own face, and that she knew he meant it.

“With or without the cat?” He joked, his smile too wide, probably too eager.

But she still giggled. She opened her mouth to answer when the front door opened.

In walked Astrid, looking immaculate in a long, tan coat and black jeans. Her hair was done up in a business bun, and when she looked up from her phone, she raised one sharp, blonde eyebrow.

“… Am I interrupting something?”

Stella jerked back – when she been leaning in – and fumbled with her bag. “Ah, no. I was just leaving.” She turned to Hiccup and did something between an awkward head tilt and a clumsy bow, her earrings swinging wildly. “Thanks again, I’ll see you soon!” And before Hiccup could process it, she was gone, the sounds of bells and the slamming door accompanying her.

Astrid meandered up to him. She glanced between him, Toothless, and the door. “So … I take it you had an interesting morning?”

Hiccup blinked. He looked down at the flyer, at the bubbly script and the drawn-in flowers lining the edges. “… Toothless may or may not have found the love of his life today.”

“Huh. Didn’t know that was possible.” From the corner of his eye, he caught a wide grin plastered on her face. “You look a little star-struck yourself.”

What Stella had said came back to him. If he closed his eyes, he was sure he’d see the twinkle in her gaze as she’d spoken it.

“Yeah … yeah, I guess I am.”


End file.
